Sewall Co. CEO Page new UMaine System chancellor

James Page, CEO of engineering and mapping consulting firm James W. Sewall Co. in Old Town, has been appointed the new chancellor of the University of Maine System.

Page was selected over two other finalists for his experience in academics and business operations, according to a press release from the UMS board of trustees. He currently serves as an adjunct professor in UMaine's Department of Philosophy. Board chair Michelle Hood said Page "is the right type of leader to move Maine's public universities to the next level." He begins his job March 20, succeeding Richard Pattenaude, who announced last year he was stepping down to return to teaching. Page's annual salary will be $277,500, and he plans to step down as CEO of James W. Sewall Co.

Page, a Caribou native, received his bachelor's degree from the University of Maine at Fort Kent and is the first UMS chancellor who was raised in Maine and attended a system university, according to the release. He also has a master's degree in philosophy from St. Andrews University in Scotland and a doctoral degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.